Combustion synthesis is a green, energy-saving approach that permits an easy scale-up and continuous technologies. This process allows for synthesizing various nanoscale materials, including oxides, nitrides, sulfides, metals, and alloys. In this work, we critically review the reported results on the combustion synthesis of magnetic nanoparticles, focusing on their properties related to different bio-applications. We also analyze challenges and suggest specific directions of research, which lead to the improvement of the properties and stability of fabricated materials.

A supercapacitor is an energy storage device that has the advantage of rapidly storing and releasing energy compared to traditional batteries. One powerful method for creating a wide range of materials is combustion synthesis, which relies on self-sustained chemical reactions. Specifically, solution combustion synthesis involves mixing reagents at the molecular level in an aqueous solution. This method allows for the fabrication of various nanostructured materials, such as binary and complex oxides, sulfides, and carbon-based nanocomposites, which are commonly used for creating electrodes in supercapacitors. The solution combustion synthesis offers flexibility in tuning the properties of the materials by adjusting the composition of the reactive solution, the type of fuel, and the combustion conditions. The process takes advantage of high temperatures, short processing times, and significant gas release to produce well crystalline nanostructured materials with a large specific surface area. This specific surface area is essential for enhancing the performance of electrodes in supercapacitors. Our review focuses on recent publications in this field, specifically examining the relationship between the microstructure of materials and their electrochemical properties. We discuss the findings and suggest potential improvements in the properties and stability of the fabricated composites based on the results.

In this work, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) have been synthesized using a modified method of solid-phase pyrolysis. The MWCNTs are effectively dispersed using a simple and facile method such as ultrasonic energy without and with surfactant for two different sonication times (15 min and 40 min). In the present study, the effect of MWCNT concentration (0.001, 0.01, 0.05, 0.1 wt.%) on the compressive strengths of cement mortars has been investigated. Compressive tests were carried out on an automatic pressure machine (C089) with a loading rate of 0.5 kN/s at the age of 7 days and 28 days. It is shown that the optimal value of the nanotubes’ concentration does not exist in the case of 15 min of sonication time, whereas the optimal value for 40 min of sonication time without and with surfactant is 0.01%. Moreover, in the absence of surfactants, the strength of the specimen over 7 days of hardening increased by 13%, and by 19.5% in the presence of surfactants. The compressive strength for a curing period of 28 days increased by 6.3% and 13.8%, respectively.

One-domain Ni@C nanoparticles encapsulated in carbon coating have been investigated depending on the size and concentration of Ni in carbon. The nanoparticles of nickel were prepared with the average diameters changing in a broad range of 4–45 nm, and the concentration of Ni in C varies in 2–12 wt%. To prepare the Ni@C nanocomposites the solid solutions of nickel phthalocyanine–metal-free phthalocyanine (NiPc)_x(H₂Pc)_1–x, 0 ≤ x ≤ 1 were synthesized and the solidphase pyrolysis of these compounds was performed. In the case of ultradispersive Ni nanoparticles (the interval of quantum dots is 1–10 nm), a considerable shift of the resonance field and broadening of resonance absorption field were revealed in the spectra of FMR at room temperature. The data were interpreted taking into account the essential contribution of the surface magnetic anisotropy, the magnetic field of which far exceeds the magnetic field of volume anisotropy.

The dimensional magnetic effects of single-domain Ni nanoparticles encapsulated by a carbon shell (Ni@C nanocomposites) have been studied. The studied samples were obtained by solid-phase pyrolysis of solid solutions of nickel phthalocyanine (NiPc) and metal-free phthalocyanine (H₂Pc): (NiPc)_x(H₂Pc)_1 – x, where 0 ⩽ x ⩽ 1. The Ni concentration in the carbon matrix varied in the range of 0–12 wt %, the sizes of the average diameter of nanoparticles in different samples were from 4 to 40 nm. The paramagnetism of the surface and near-surface atoms of Ni nanoparticles, which is due to the charge transfer from the carbon matrix with the formation of Ni ions has been studied in detail. A method for determining the blocking temperature of superparamagnets in temperature measurements of the paramagnetic susceptibility in the case of high magnetic fields is considered. The magnetic characteristics, which reflect size effects in SQUID magnetometry and FMR, exhibit “anomalous” deviations in the range of ultrasmall particles. These are high values of the blocking temperature, high values of the coercive force, and the ferromagnetic resonance linewidth, as well as a significant shift of the effective g-factor in the FMR spectra. Generalizing equations are presented that include the contributions of the surface magnetic anisotropy along with the bulk magnetocrystalline anisotropy, which is consistent with the experimental results over the entire investigated range from 4 to 40 nm. It is shown that the parameters of the total magnetic resonance spectra (FMR + ESR) are caused by the ferromagnetism of the core of nickel nanoparticles and the paramagnetism of surface and near-surface Ni ions, as well as π-electrons of the organic matrix. A general diagram of the dependence of the coercive force on particle sizes for temperatures lower than the blocking temperature (T < T_b) is also presented.